When Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui to the north bank of the river, more and more neighbors from both banks who had finished dinner and come out to enjoy the cool had appeared. Some carried their own small stools to sit by the river slowly rocking palm-leaf fans, while others gathered in groups of three to five chatting about household matters. And the gazes of all these people, without exception, all fell upon that pair of unfamiliar yet extremely handsome young husband and wife.

When Yao Huang was little and went to play at her maternal grandfather’s house, she often dealt with such scenes. When others smiled at her, she smiled back. When meeting elders she would greet them first—”Uncle” and “Auntie,” “Grandpa” and “Granny” came readily to her lips. With those of similar age, if the other party initiated conversation, Yao Huang would also stop to respond.

Back on the south bank, Zhao Sui had already experienced the princess consort’s enthusiasm and talkativeness. After numerous instances, Prince Hui gradually transformed from initial resistance and discomfort to numbness.

Though Prince Hui had grown up in the imperial family, he had little of the overt or subtle arrogance commonly seen in imperial family members or even ordinary noble and high-born descendants. When he traveled with a prince’s ceremonial procession, what common people and officials held in awe was his status, his seemingly forbidding, aloof demeanor that kept people at a thousand miles’ distance.

Therefore, when Prince Hui changed into a set of ordinary commoner’s clothing, when he tried his best to soften his expression in order to cooperate with the princess consort’s enjoyment of the outing or to maintain basic courtesy before these enthusiastic common folk, what the neighbors saw was merely a handsome scholar gentleman who had become excessively quiet and taciturn because his legs were crippled—not a lifeless scholar gentleman who looked upon everyone with displeasure and refused all interaction.

“Come, scholar’s wife, sit over here too. We’re all sitting—it doesn’t make sense for only you to stand.”

A woman who had just started chatting scooted to the side, yielding half the smooth stone she sat upon to Yao Huang. Besides this woman, five more women sat on various sized stones nearby—among them two white-haired old ladies, with the remaining few being aunties in their thirties and forties.

Yao Huang was still considering whether Prince Hui could endure such a large gathering when one old lady urged: “Sit, sit! It’s rare to have a pair of celestial beings move in—let us have a good look.”

The woman who had first struck up conversation lived in the household directly across from these stone seats. She directly pressed Yao Huang down to sit, then ran into her house and brought out a large basin of roasted melon seeds, first distributing a full generous handful to Yao Huang.

“See, we’re all benefiting from her presence, aren’t we? In the past when we sat here chatting, no one was willing to share melon seeds with us.”

“Of course I wasn’t willing! With so many mouths, even if my family ran a roasted goods shop we couldn’t afford to supply you all. Today you can enjoy the scholar’s wife’s fortune, so just secretly celebrate.”

Amid the laughter and teasing, Yao Huang divided half the melon seeds to Prince Hui in his wheelchair.

Zhao Sui didn’t eat such things. Just as he was about to refuse, he heard a woman across from them let out a burst of suppressed laughter. Though it was suppressed, the voice was loud enough for him to hear: “Look, look—young couples are so loving, sweet enough to die.”

Zhao Sui: “…”

His left hand still clutched the half-damp handkerchief. Even if Zhao Sui accepted the melon seeds, he had no way to shell them. Trying hard to ignore those women’s gazes, he said to the princess consort in a low voice: “You eat them yourself. I don’t need any.”

Yao Huang had a large handful of melon seeds in her left hand and a large handful in her right hand. Even so, melon seeds kept falling through the gaps between her fingers. How could she eat without freeing up one hand?

Since Prince Hui wouldn’t extend his hand, Yao Huang directly placed the melon seeds from her right hand onto the long robe draped across his knees: “If you don’t eat them, perfect—I love them, so you can shell them for me.”

Having said this, she also placed the ones from her left hand there, only keeping a convenient amount to shell as she ate.

Zhao Sui: “…”

Yao Huang had no time to explore Prince Hui’s current mood. She turned her head and started chatting with the women.

“Scholar’s wife, how old are you?”

“Seventeen!”

“I knew you looked young! Doesn’t that mean you just got married not long ago?”

“That’s right, the wedding was held last winter.”

“You’re truly fortunate—you’re beautiful yourself, and the husband you married is like a celestial being too.”

Yao Huang glanced at Prince Hui who was still staring blankly at the pile of melon seeds on his robe, and said sweetly: “That’s right! I’m not boasting, but wherever I’ve been, I’ve never seen a man more handsome than my husband.”

Everyone nodded in unison toward the handsome scholar in the wheelchair.

When a group of women gathered together, they could chat endlessly. What’s more, other women, young wives, older girls and younger girls kept drawing near. Once the crowd grew, from a distance it was hard to notice there was still a man in a wheelchair mixed into this pile of women, so other men old and young tactfully avoided gathering in this direction.

Zhao Sui didn’t want to join this idle chat, but feeling the many gazes upon him that hardly ceased, the more motionless he remained the more unbearable it became.

After sitting stiffly for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zhao Sui lowered his eyes and tucked the handkerchief gripped in his left hand into his right sleeve, then picked up a melon seed and began shelling it with both hands. Once shelled, Prince Hui placed the melon seed kernel on the right wheelchair armrest next to the princess consort. As for the shells…

Prince Hui had just begun to face this dilemma when the woman who had given them melon seeds, sitting on the princess consort’s other side, spoke up with a smile: “Just throw them on the ground. I’ll sweep them all up later.”

Zhao Sui: “…”

His gaze swept over the other women eating melon seeds. Indeed, they all casually threw shells at their feet, including his princess consort.

Zhao Sui could only do as the locals did.

Since he wasn’t talking, his melon seed shelling went quickly. The right armrest surface soon accumulated a long strip of melon seed kernels. After Yao Huang finished what was in her hand, she turned and scooped the melon seed kernels from the armrest into her palm, no longer needing to shell them herself.

When she collected them for the second time, the women envied her again: “The scholar gentleman treats you so well! My man has never shelled melon seeds for me—I’m only ever the one bringing food and drink to him.”

“Who are you telling? That’s why when marrying you must marry someone educated—they know how to cherish people.”

“But it also depends on the person. Scholar He across the way has lived here for nearly twenty years, and I’ve never seen him serve his wife.”

“You’re all wrong—the key point is that little Yao is beautiful. Never mind a wife, if you gave me such a sister-in-law or daughter-in-law, I’d be willing to dote on her too.”

If it were another young wife being teased by a group like this, she’d have blushed long ago. But Yao Huang wasn’t coy, because she truly was beautiful, and Prince Hui’s treatment of her was indeed good enough—look how neatly he shelled these melon seeds!

After finishing the melon seeds, Yao Huang had already said everything about the Liao family that could be said. Seeing Prince Hui had nothing to do, Yao Huang stood up: “We still want to stroll the main street and get more familiar with the roads. You all continue chatting. If we gather again tomorrow evening, I’ll treat everyone to melon seeds.”

Everyone enthusiastically saw them off.

By this time, the women gathered here had almost encompassed all the female family members from nearby households on both banks of the new residence. When Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui forward, there remained only some older men who at most exchanged simple greetings, along with children running and playing about.

Reaching the stone bridge closest to the new residence—also the place where Yao Huang had decided to turn toward the main street—two children emerged from the neighboring household. A brother who looked seven or eight led a sister of four or five, with one black and one yellow puppy following at the children’s feet.

Seeing strangers, the little black dog barked loudly. The little yellow dog was scrawny and timid, hiding behind the siblings.

Zhao Sui frowned slightly.

The brother sensibly called off the little black dog.

The sister ran to the front of the wheelchair, earnestly comforting the handsome older brother whose face had turned pale with fright: “Don’t be scared! We won’t let Little Black bite you, and besides, Little Black is still young—even if he bites it won’t hurt.”

Zhao Sui: “…”

Yao Huang suppressed her laughter and bent down to ask the little girl: “How did you see that he was scared?”

The little girl’s bright black-and-white eyes looked at Prince Hui’s face: “His face is very white. My brother looks like this when he’s scared.”

Yao Huang shook her head: “My husband isn’t afraid of your dog at all. He’s very brave. His face is white because he’s been getting little sun lately.”

Zhao Sui: “…”

The little girl seemed half-believing, looking at the beautiful sister and asking: “Your face is also very white. Is that also because you get little sun?”

Yao Huang: “Of course not! I’m naturally white, and my kind of white is called ‘white with a rosy glow.’ White that comes purely from hiding from the sun couldn’t look as good as me.”

Zhao Sui never imagined his princess consort could chat even with a little girl.

Learning that the beautiful sister was a new neighbor who’d just moved in across the way, the little girl’s eyes lit up. She ran over and picked up the scrawny little yellow dog, asking hopefully: “Sister, can you keep Little Yellow? Our big dog gave birth to five puppies total. We’re keeping Little Black ourselves, and three others have been given away. Only Little Yellow is so skinny that no one wants him. My father says we can’t waste food and wants to throw Little Yellow away.”

Yao Huang: “…”

Seeing the prince who’d been wooden for quite a while turn his head to look at her, Yao Huang put away her melancholy expression, restored her smile and said: “I can’t decide this—you have to ask whether he wants to keep it.”

The little girl immediately looked toward the handsome older brother in the wheelchair. The puppy lay obediently in her arms, its watery black eyes warily sizing up the stranger before it.

Zhao Sui looked at the dog and asked: “Why is it called Little Yellow?”

Yao Huang: “…”

The little girl: “Because its fur is yellow! The black-furred one is called Little Black, so the yellow-furred one is called Little Yellow.”

Knowing Prince Hui was deliberately teasing her, Yao Huang rested one hand on the wheelchair while the other went to pinch the flesh at his shoulder: “First say whether you’ll actually keep it or not. If you will, then you can change its name.”

Zhao Sui let her decide: “See whether you like it—either is fine with me.”

Yao Huang looked at the little girl’s brightening eyes, then glanced at the excessively quiet new residence across the way: “Then let’s keep it. Change the name to Jinbao. Look at this coat—it clearly looks more like the color of gold ingots.”

The little girl exclaimed in wonder: “Sister, you’ve seen gold ingots?”

Yao Huang patted Prince Hui’s shoulder: “I’ve seen exactly one—he gave it to me.”

After the little girl finished envying them, she immediately made to hand the puppy to Yao Huang.

Yao Huang pointed to their new residence and said to the siblings: “First tell your father and mother. If they agree, you deliver Jinbao to that house and say we bought it for one hundred wen. They’ll give you the money.”

Hearing there was money to be had, both siblings were delighted and immediately ran inside to find their parents.

Yao Huang pushed the wheelchair toward the main street.

Only then did Zhao Sui ask: “Why did you pinch me just now?”

Yao Huang: “Stop playing dumb.”

Prince Hui smiled faintly.

Summer days were long. The large and small shops on both sides of the main street all had their doors open. Yao Huang hadn’t yet found Doctor Liao’s medical clinic when she first spotted a blacksmith’s shop. From inside the shop came rhythmic hammering sounds.

Passing the blacksmith’s shop, Yao Huang curiously looked inside and saw a bare-chested burly man wielding a heavy iron hammer, pounding away at something.

The burly man faced sideways toward them. His shoulders were thick and solid, his chest bulging, his young beardless face flushed red in the firelight.

Naturally, Yao Huang’s gaze only circled the blacksmith’s face once before returning to him.

What the princess consort saw, Prince Hui also saw. However, Prince Hui glanced once then looked upward. Seeing the princess consort tilting her head with her eyes fixed unblinkingly, Prince Hui pressed his lips together, placed both hands on the large wheels on either side, and pushed himself forward.